One day after two Palo Alto police officers were criminally charged with beating a black motorist, some residents in this city -- where diversity has long been embraced -- say they are shocked at the allegations and concerned about racial profiling.

"We live right next to East Palo Alto, and I think profiling is an issue for our police," said the Rev. John Sullivan, 52, a minister who lives in Palo Alto and heard the police confrontation on July 13.

Sullivan expressed concern that local police, bent on keeping East Palo Alto crime from spilling into their city, might look harder at minority individuals who are simply going about their business.

In 2000, Palo Alto became one of the first cities in California to start collecting racial and ethnic data on every person stopped by police. New statistics on police stops, however, show that minorities have continued to account for a disproportionate number of people pulled over by Palo Alto police.

Prosecutors say race played no role in the beating. Rookie officers Craig Daniel Lee, 40, and Michael Kan, 25, are both Asian American. The victim, 59- year-old Albert Hopkins, a longtime Palo Alto resident and former community college counselor, says the color of his skin was a factor.

Hopkins "didn't believe this happened to black people in America and that's why he lived in Palo Alto for 30 years," said Hopkins' attorney, Joe Hopkins of Pasadena, who is also the victim's brother.

Joe Hopkins, who described his brother as a good and responsible citizen, said his brother is emotionally distressed by the beating.

In a $200,000 claim against the city, Albert Hopkins says the two officers violated his civil rights.

City officials have pledged to investigate the matter.

"This is shocking to all of us," said Mayor Dena Mossar. "But we'll deal with this and make things right, that's our commitment. We take pride that we are a progressive community and our intention and goal is to support and honor diversity."

Lee and Kan surrendered in court Thursday and were booked and released on their own recognizance. They are charged with felony assault and battery and are scheduled to return to court on Aug. 22, when they will enter a plea. They face up to three years in prison if convicted of assault by a peace officer.

The officers are accused of assaulting Hopkins at Oxford Avenue near El Camino Real. Acting on a call about a suspicious vehicle, the pair approached Hopkins, who was parked in his car relaxing after work, according to court documents.

They tried to identify him and then attempted to force him from his car. The officers allegedly beat him with batons and then doused him with pepper spray when they couldn't subdue him, prosecutors said.

Attorneys for the two officers denied accusations of racism and said the officers were just doing their job.

"They were responding to a call that there was a suspicious car," said lawyer Harry Stern. "That's what they're supposed to be doing."

But some in the city said the incident raises important questions about whether more needs to be done to make minority residents feel welcome.

"My gut response was this is worth looking into," said Lakiba Pittman, vice chair of Palo Alto's Human Relations Commission, who is black. "I believe that when African Americans or other minorities hear a story like the one they've heard here it's not uncommon that we would tend to agree with the victim . . . because it's happening across the U.S., California and the Bay Area."

Sandra Drake, a Stanford professor of English and African American literature, said she wasn't surprised by the news of the beating. She said she herself was stopped by police near Palo Alto once for simply walking down the street.

"I have friends who are black who've been stopped by police, the expression is 'driving while black,' " said Drake. "I'm afraid, even here, there's a tendency for police (who see an ethnic minority) to think: There's something weird going on or you're out of place."

But Drake was pleased that the police have moved quickly to investigate the matter.

Eve Agiewich, chair of the city's Human Relations Commission, said the police department has gone to great lengths to improve its diversity training and outreach. But she said it should continue to beef up its training, particularly for new officers such as Lee and Kan, who are most in need of teaching.

"We should use this as an opportunity to say, something is going on here that perhaps needs attention and focus on some less experienced officers," said Agiewich. "I hope they'll use it as opportunity to try and assure the community they'll take some steps to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Police Chief Lynne Johnson, who took office in May, recently started meeting with minority community leaders in an attempt to improve relations. She said the case of Lee and Kan showed no signs of racism, but added that there is still plenty of room for the department to improve its treatment of minorities.

"It's clear to me that the police department has lost some credibility and confidence with some members of the community," said Johnson. "We are very committed to working with everyone, especially members of minority communities to break down barriers and repair the lines of communication."

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